Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said violent protests in Ukraine are getting out of control after two days of street battles in Kiev.

Mr Lavrov said calls from opposition leaders for an end to violence have failed, indicating they no longer hold sway over the demonstrators.

"I personally believe that those calls for prudence that the opposition leaders - Vitali Klitschko in particular - are making, they show that the situation is getting out of control," he said.

Opposition politicians, including former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, have repeatedly appealed for calm since protests turned violent on Sunday.

Riot police remain locked in a tense standoff with protesters in Ukraine’s capital Kiev, after failing to break up a protest camp in the early hours of the morning.

Boxing champion Vitali Klitschko has tried to calm the protesters

Security forces attempted to dismantle barricades outside government officers, but were pushed back by demonstrators throwing fire bombs and stones.

Police responded with stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets.

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Gallery: Street Battles Intensify In Kiev

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov says the violent protests in Ukraine are getting out of control. There have been two days of streets battles in Kiev. Here, a pro-European integration protester throws a Molotov cocktail towards riot police.

Hours earlier, fireworks and stun grenades lit up the night sky as demonstrators set fire to vehicles and threw missiles at police.

One protester accidentally set himself alight while throwing a projectile and had to be treated by medical staff.

The violence, now in its third day, marks a significant shift in the protest against the government, which had been largely peaceful over the last two months.

On Sunday a rally of some 200,000 people took to the streets in a show of anger over harsh new anti-protest laws signed by President Viktor Yanukovych last week.

Hundreds of protesters broke off from the main peaceful rally on Independence Square and marched toward the parliament building.

More than 100 police and roughly 100 protesters were injured, according to the authorities.

Health officials say three people have lost eyes and one person had his hand amputated.

The protest laws, which come into force today, allow for jail terms of up to five years for those who blockade public buildings. They also ban protesters from wearing masks or helmets.

The online dissemination of what the government deems to be "slander" has also been made illegal.

The legislation was introduced despite criticism from the opposition and several Western countries.

Protests first erupted in November after President Yanukovych opted to shelve a long-discussed economic and political treaty with the European Union.

Instead he chose to focus on improving ties with Russia and received a bailout loan from the Kremlin to aid the troubled Ukrainian economy.

The president agreed to negotiate with the opposition following a meeting with Mr Klitschko over the weekend, however no such talks have yet been held.

In a televised address on Monday, Mr Yanukovych said: "I'm addressing residents of the city of Kiev, as well as other participants of mass rallies.

"I'm asking you not to follow those who are calling for violence, who wants to provoke a rift between the state and the society and wants to throw the Ukrainian people into the fire of mass unrest.

"I'm convinced that you will hear me and will support me in my attempts to stop confrontation that was provoked by those who want to fight for power using human blood."